The Game Of Quadruplet Mates
Chapter 36

The air was cold, much colder than it was before and it was all because of Ajax, who stood as still as a stone pillar. Shrouded in darkness and shadow, he was every bit of the nameless pack's fearsome Alpha right now. All dark eyes and no emotion, the air around him was electric and pulsing like a whip, ready to lash out any time. And normally I would admire this, but right now it was directed towards us.

To Jeremy.

The worst of it was that he didn't speak, he didn't let anything show except for this energy that made both Jeremy and I back away. Everything inside me screamed danger, alarm bells going off in every direction.

Every time I think I have seen his worst, his angriest, I'm proven wrong. For this is possibly the worst. No, I am sure that this is the worst.

Because no one living should be this still.

He didn't even look as though he was breathing.

I imagine that this is how he looks when he is in front of the city pack; a force to be reckoned with, unstoppable and petrifying. He was a man that should not be tested, a man that would gladly burn everything to get what he wanted. And we were at his mercy.

Just when I thought Ajax wouldn't speak, wouldn't approach, he walked towards us slowly with each step sending a tremor through our bodies. He stops until he's right in front of us, his dark eyes on Jeremy.

And only Jeremy.

"You've become a problem, Jeremy." There was no threat in his words but it certainly felt like it was.

The gravity shifted under my feet as Ajax's eyes finally locked with mine. He didn't have to say it.

His blackened eyes said it all for me.

I've betrayed him.

We've betrayed him.

His Beta and his mate.

The only people he thought he could trust completely.

And he was deeply hurt, distraught. "Of all the people I thought would go behind my back, I never expected it to be you two."

Jeremy panics instantly, the statement meaning so much to him. "Alpha, I can explain. It's not what you think. I was-"

Suddenly, Ajax had Jeremy by the neck and I scream, jumping towards them. "Ajax, please. Don't hurt him. Please. I'm begging you. Nothing happened. I promise."

"Step away, June." Ajax warned in a voice so low it sent a chill down my back. Hearing me protect another man, it nearly forced his wolf out, his sharp teeth poking out of his lips and fur coming out of his skin. Ajax's black eyes were swimming with so much anger, so much hurt that I lost strength in my knees and I fell to the ground, breathing heavily.

Ajax was violently shaking, his entire body blurring. He lifts his hand over his head, fingers clenched close in a fist, ready to hit his Beta and before I can shout for him to stop, Ajax freezes, his eyes on Jeremy, who flinched, trembling in his Alpha's hands.

Something about this stunned Ajax to the point that his entire body went still. As if cold water was thrown at him, Ajax lets go of his Beta like it burned him, the amber of his eyes back and looking absolutely gutted.

Ajax pulled back, walking a few steps away as he breathed hard. He kept his hands on either side of his face, shocked and shaken up. His eyes were closed shut in regret, his entire body resonating with such unfathomable guilt.

I didn't understand what was happening. I had so many unanswered questions in my head, but right now I was just so relieved that Ajax didn't go through with it.

But that didn't mean damage wasn't done because Jeremy was pressed against the wall, bracing himself tight as his tears fell down his face nonstop. He was shaking like a leaf, not out of anger or his wolf taking over, but out of absolute fright and I don't think it was towards Ajax. He was scared of something else. Something that wasn't here. Jeremy looked like he was reliving a dream- a nightmare that only he could see and by the look on Ajax's face, he could see it too.

Something was happening between the two of them. Something I will never understand. Something only the two of them know.

It took them both a moment to gather themselves, with Ajax finally opening his eyes and Jeremy pushing himself off the walls he was clutching so tightly.

"How long have you two been here?" Ajax asked, his voice hoarse.

Jeremy's hand was on his neck then, rubbing it but it didn't look like he was in pain... more like feeling how damp it was-

Ajax's eyes were quick to turn black once more. "Why is your neck wet? What have you two been doing?"

He thought I kissed Jeremy's neck. He had thought the worst.

Jeremy was quick to gasp out. "Alpha, wait. I would never."

I fumbled, trying to get up as well. "It's not what you think, Ajax. Listen to me-"

"I think I've given you enough patience, Jeremy. I've given you enough chances and every time you cross the line with her. I thought I could trust you, but it's as if you're testing my limits now." Ajax snaps, ignoring me completely, his sole focus on his Beta. "I come out of the shower to replace June gone and then follow her scent to you where I hear you saying how good and well you love my mate? How you want to take her away? What is this? What are you doing?"

My eyes widened with realization. Ajax didn't know. He wasn't there to hear all of it. He didn't hear the conversation about how my mark burned for Jeremy or anything of the likes.

He didn't know Jeremy and I were destined mates.

We could tell him now and be done with this problem. To discuss it within the three of us-

"Nothing." Jeremy answers flatly. "There is nothing, Alpha. I know June is my Luna and I am trying to come to terms with that."

I glanced at Jeremy, surprised that he was lying through his teeth. If there's anyone that would be honest to Ajax, it would be him. Always. So I didn't know where he was going with this and why he was doing this. Surely, lying will only make things worse. I'm tempted to tell Ajax everything, but the look that Jeremy is giving me effectively stops the words from coming out of my mouth.

It was a look of such utter desperation that my mouth dried.

"It was a moment of weakness," Jeremy continues, lips quivering. "I just... I couldn't help myself. I've been drinking and I was just thinking of the Games."

"Enough. I know what happened in the Games." Ajax cuts off tiredly with a shake of his head. The look of hurt and disappointment was still so clear on his face that I knew Jeremy could see it too. "Just go, Jeremy. We will deal with this another time." Jeremy's lips parted, swallowing. "But Alpha."

"Go." Ajax dismisses, starting to walk away. "Before I do something I'll regret."

Jeremy follows after Ajax, looking like a lost boy trying to reach his hero. "Alpha, wait. Please. A-Ajax."

Even the mention of his name didn't stop Ajax and just as I think this was done, Jeremy shoves Ajax with a force that makes the Alpha stop. He doesn't quite tip over, but it does make him pause mid step.

"Hit me." Jeremy shouts, facing Ajax. "Yell at me! Punish me! I deserve it!"

But Ajax only stares at him, his expression unreadable.

"Do something!" Jeremy pushes against him again but Ajax doesn't move. "You hate me, right? You hate me for loving your mate? So hit me, hurt me, kill me. Do what you were supposed to do all those years ago!" Something flashed through Ajax's eyes but it was gone before I could decipher its meaning. "No, Jeremy."

Jeremy had completely lost himself, sobbing wildly, losing the last of his hold. "Why?! I'm in love with her. You heard it. Why won't you hit me? Why won't you hurt me? I'm... I'm a threat. I'm a problem. I've disappointed you." "Go home." Ajax says with finality. "Go back to the pack. I will not hear this again."

The order was absolute and Jeremy was frozen in place.

Together, we watched Ajax go, walking in the direction of my old house. Jeremy was on his knees and then started vomiting on the ground, the alcohol draining out of him.

It took him awhile to finish. The sounds he was making were animalistic, similar to the cries of women of the pack giving birth to future werewolves.

"We should have told him." I didn't know what else to say. "We should have said something."

Jeremy wiped his lips with the back of his hand, his blue eyes were sharp and were directed at me. "He is my Alpha, June. He saved my life and... I can't break his heart by telling him you were made for me and I was made for you. He will never recover from that. Do you understand me?"

"And lying is better?" I replace myself whispering, battling with everything in me. "Don't you see what's happening? We're blind, confused and losing control over ourselves."

"Yes. Lying is better if that means it won't break him." He says with finality, the edge of his voice unlike the Jeremy I know. "Just look at him, June. He doesn't even know yet and he's already like this. I will not be the reason why he gave up. I will not be the reason why he loses the one hope he has."

How quickly he changed. One moment he's telling me his deepest thoughts about me and the next it's like he's forgotten it all.

Whatever happened between Jeremy and Ajax must have shocked both of them.

I do not dwell, not bothering to fight someone who has already gone through the worst. My feet automatically walked towards where Ajax went. I didn't have to go far. He was among the bare trees near the house, staring into the moon high above the sky, his arms crossed over his chest.

He did not speak. He did not move.

But he looked so shaken, so vulnerable.

Deceived.

And when he finally looked at me, I thought he might cry, but he didn't. For he wasn't Jeremy. He was an Alpha, a man that had cried all his tears at the age of eight. "You came to him."

I was ready to tell him everything then, to confess this heavy secret that's been weighing me down, but I remember Jeremy. I remember Ajac. This would ruin both of them. "I wanted to make sure he was okay."

Ajax's eyes darkened, the black soulless. "I asked you once if you were my mate or Jeremy's."

My hands reached for him. "You are. I'm yours."

He steps away from my touch and it hurts more than anything else. "Then why does it feel like the opposite? Why does it feel like you're both lying to me? Are you still in love with him? Is that it? Do you regret choosing me, June?"

"Of course not." I quickly defended. The ground under me feels unsteady but I know it's just me panicking. "I don't regret choosing you. I want you. You're who I want. That hasn't changed."

"You're lying!" He growled so loudly it truly shook the earth this time. With his hand on the tree beside us, he easily broke it, the tree snapping in two as his fingers were deep into the hollow. "You're lying about something. Either you want my Beta the same way he wants you or there's something else you're not telling me."

I was breathing hard, ready to tell him everything. Absolutely everything. "Ajax..."

"I have loved you all my life, June." He whispered, sounding winded with every word he spoke. "I have loved you for a very long time. Longer than I've loved myself. Do not do this to me. You are the only one I have. Tell me the truth."

"And I love you, Ajax." I have never said those words to any man before. But it was true, and it burned deep down in my chest. It burned when he was away, and it burned even more when he was near. It burned when we spoke loveingly and it burned when we're fighting.

It burned and it burned, a wildfire that never stopped consuming me.

More than it ever did for Jeremy.

Even if my soul was made for Jeremy, I know that my life, my whole being has always been meant for Ajax.

"Jeremy and I," I began, but Ajax flinched, like I had stabbed him silver.

How can I continue?

How can I say more when the mere mention of Jeremy has him in pieces?

"I should have known better." His jaw clenched tight as his eyes fluttered close. Too hurt to keep them open. "I knew... I knew from the moment I saw you with Jeremy that you loved him. I saw the way you looked at him because it's the same way I look at you. He wants you and you want him. I was a fool to think that would change. I was a fool to be so selfish."

"That's not it, Ajax." I explained, taking his hand and holding him tight. "Please, just listen to me and don't let you know or saw in the Games cloud your thoughts. Let me explain everything and I promise you, it's you. No one else. Ajax, my mate, please."

"I don't want to hear it." He cuts off, his body beginning to blur again. "I can't- I need to, I'm losing control,"

His wolf was taking over, the pain that he must be feeling triggering self defense- self preservation.

He was a survivor after all.

I watched it happen, this fierce wolf replacing my Ajax and running away from me, leaving only pieces of fabric in his wake.

Hunching low, I pick up the pieces. He has plenty of clothes but I just... I somehow couldn't just leave them there, so I pick up every single one of them, hugging them close to my body and feeling a phantom of warmth from it.

All that I was was his, and all that he was was mine.

It was only a fight.

Our first.

Mates fight.

It's normal. A misunderstanding. That's all it was.

He will come back like he promised me and then, when he's calmer, when he's less guarded by everything that's happened today, we can finally talk.

It's not easy for him and it's all my fault.

Coming here was a bad idea.

He had to be here where people didn't like him, where my father was interested in his Beta, where Jeremy is forced to follow me to keep me safe. And then Pete reminded everyone of the Games- reminded him of the Games which is a sensitive subject. It was too soon.

For everyone.

We all haven't had time to breathe.

Jeremy needed time.

Ajax needed time.

But Ajax was too busy giving me what I wanted to care about anything else. As always, he prioritized me, putting everything I wanted above all.

"Luna?"

I looked up, a little startled as I kept the pieces of fabric close. "Yes?"

Two of the nameless pack were standing a few feet from me. I recognize them as the ones that always stayed near Jeremy, the ones that help guard me. "The Alpha asked us to take you back to the house."

"Oh. Okay." I stood, giving them a small smile. "Thank you."

They nodded and somehow Jeremy's absence felt so evident. Worryingly so. Did he really leave? Why did I feel nervous about that? "Where's the Beta?"

"He's heading back to the pack, Luna." The two guards tell me. "Orders from the Alpha."

"I see." I ran my hand through the fabric in my arms, trying to feel more of the warmth. "Do you know how long Ajax will be?"

The answer came quietly. "Long enough."

I turned to face them, confused. "I'm sorry?"

A hand was suddenly on my mouth, clamping my lips shut with a cloth that smelled... strange. Shocked, I had no time to fight back from the hold on my head. I tried to scream and thrash wildly, doing all that I could to get away, to call for help, until the smell got too much and I felt myself go weak, slumping to the ground with my eyes to the moon. I saw vague shadows, no, figures in the darkness, looming over me. These were the two guards that were supposed to take care of me.

Everything was starting to get hazy and blurry as I tried to fight the feeling of sleepiness while several hands grabbed me from all sides.

I was losing consciousness, only regaining enough to see that I was being carried away somewhere.

"Ajax..."

My heavy eyes closed.

And I don't get to open them again.